Many large companies face the following problem related to their numerous staff: officials don’t know about difficulties of industrial cluster and ideas that employees want to offer. That problem appears because if, for example, a company consists of at least 100 people it cannot involve all staff members in brainstorms and meetings at the same time.
Currently one solves this problem using crowdsourcing services. These online platforms help to find needed solutions and ideas from employees, clients and even volunteers. One of the most successful crowdsourcing platforms was Threadless. It started with public votes for the best designs of clothes printings. At the very beginning winners were offered small cash prizes. But now the project has joint the top services for hand crafted t-shirts and hoodies. Russia’s first crowdsourcing project “Sberbank-21” was made by its main bank. Such online platforms are appropriate for solving socially important problems.
“The typical methodology of crowdsourcing projects is based on splitting a work project into several parts, so as participants solve tasks step by step. Innocentive and eYeka, the most famous online platforms also use these rules. However this approach has a disadvantage: experts in particular fields work together and don’t interact with those who solve tasks connected with other areas. It prevents them from working on interdisciplinary issues,” said Andrey Grigoriev, CEO at Crowd Systems.
The specialists of Crowd Systems have developed their own methodology: participants can perform all parts of the project at once. They offered more than 50 indicators for evaluating the efficiency of volunteers’ work. Using man-machine algorithms the system detects the most effective operations and adjusts to new conditions.
“Currently we collaborate with pharmaceutical sector in the field of process optimization, which includes looking for new solutions. Now St. Petersburg Chemical & Pharmaceutical Academy uses our service. It attracts Master’s and PhD students who offer their ideas. Having analyzing them the system chooses the most talented so as to hire them,” said the expert.
According to Mr. Grigoriev, there are also other crowdsourcing platforms such as Witology and Citycelebrity but they mostly focus on social projects and marketing analyses. Crowd Systems plan to develop innovation management area and also cooperate with St. Petersburg governmental institutions.
